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On Sun, 10 Dec 2006 16:55:05 +0000 Jonathan Roberts <jonathan.roberts.uk@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote: > > Fedora have proved that it can be done - and done well. > > > > Fedora have a lot of Red Hat involvement though. For example I know over > half the Fedora Project board (I think that's the right term) are all > employers of Red Hat [employees]. That's not a problem - it's an example, as I said, of how to do it well. > , and so obviously they have a lot of say in where > the project goes. It's not obvious and it is not necessarily true either. It depends on how Fedora and RH work together - there is no requirement for RH to have any direct or indirect control over Fedora decisions. A sponsor does not usually have control over someone else - that would be a dictator. When you sponsor someone to do a charity event, you want to bask in the reflected glory and you have no say, really, in how that event is organised. If it doesn't happen, fine, you can ask for your money back although in the example of a charity most would not bother. I don't know how Fedora is organised but it would be wrong to assume that a sponsor necessarily has control over the direction of the project when all they may be providing is access to hardware etc. Besides, RH is a long, long way from the likes of Novell and SCO. RH can dictate how it's employees behave in works time but just because these guys are employees does not mean all their work is scrutinised by RH - time off is time off. If your employer demanded information on what you do on your day off what would you tell him? (B___ Off! probably.) > > Distributions don't need sponsors, they certainly don't need > > heavy-handed sponsors and SuSE was around *before* Novell. If Novell > > mistreat opensuse, or are seen to have undue influence over things like > > Windows interoperability, the opensuse developers will have to move > > away from Novell or risk becoming a complete irrelevance to the > > community. > > I like this point! I hope it's the case too because I think, like > Fedora, a lot of the key developers are employed by Novell - but like > you said they likely care alot about Free Software and the community > themselves, hence the reason they work for Novell, and so rather than > become an irellevence will move to something else, or fork. Definitely. It's happened before and it will happen again. The community is full of people who put freedom above personal convenience. That is how it survives and that is how most community members indeed behave. This explains the communal disdain of people and organisations that reverse the priorities to fit in with the current "instant gratification" culture by using non-free to the detriment of their colleagues in the wider community. This is why I call the use of non-free selfish and discriminatory. Such people need our sympathy but not necessarily community support. I guess it boils down to self-respect. Those without a conscience will traipse over to MicroVell SuSE without a thought. As sure as the Pope is a catholic, the Microvell distribution *will* support lots of proprietary blobs. It is incumbent on the rest of the community to help these poor souls see the error of their ways and show them the true light of free software. (sounds like a sermon I once heard). (joke!) Seriously though, I'm encouraged by the overall reaction to the Microvell deal. Anything that increases the level of discussion of the GPL and freedom is A Good Thing. The community can only get stronger from such discussions and despite everything that proponents of proprietary blobs may claim, freedom does not put people off. Quite the opposite, freedom is a positive force for good. Freedom is undeniably appealing and the rewards of freedom are forever and for everyone, outweighing any short term, selfish, proprietary gains. Time and time again, those who would restrict freedom or sell freedom for selfish reward are undone by the very limitations they seek to deploy. Anyone who lived through the fall of the Berlin Wall understands the fundamental appeal of freedom on the wider political stage - freedom within software is a smaller scale but no less appealing. There will always be people who put freedom above all else. Freedom matters, use it or lose it - you cannot ignore it. -- Neil Williams ============= http://www.data-freedom.org/ http://www.nosoftwarepatents.com/ http://www.linux.codehelp.co.uk/
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